Currently Viewing: Tao Te Ching

The ancient Chinese sage Confucius taught that a life worth living consists of tireless cultivation of virtue and self-discipline. The ideal life is structured and well-ordered, guided by rituals and propriety. The self, like a gemstone, requires cutting, filing, and polishing:

Tsze-kung said, “What do you think of the poor man who does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?” The Master replied, “They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful [happy with the Way], and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety (li).”
Tsze-kung replied, “It is said in the Book of Poetry, ‘As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish.’—The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed.”
The Master said, “With one like Ts’ze, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence.” The Analects, 1:15

This powerful metaphor of self-cultivation is subverted in the Tao Te Ching which celebrates simplicity, softness, and fluidity of existence. The self is not a hard substance to be cut and carved; it begins in harmony with the Way (Tao) as “uncarved wood” or flowing water. Nothing needs to be done to it.

Both the Confucian and the Taoist traditions speak of wu-wei, translated either as “effortless action” or “non-action” respectively. It can be applied to anything, even to the Bullet Hell Games For the Confucians, wu-wei — the grace and wisdom of a virtuoso — is always the result of a life-long conscious practice. For the Taoists, wu-wei is manifested in “letting things take their course” (TTC, 19), in our primordial spontaneity beyond words, concepts, striving, and struggle.

About Reflections

Here I introduce some of the key texts and ideas of the course, discuss individual thinkers and intellectual movements and recommend readings and multimedia sources. While teaching the course I also comment on classroom discussions and invite my students to share their thoughts.